Federal

Correctional Facilities Occupational Safety and Health Act of 2023

Source: Congress.gov · 1,960 words in original text

What This Bill Does

This bill extends workplace safety and health protections to incarcerated people who work in correctional facilities (prisons and jails). The bill requires states and the federal Bureau of Prisons to apply the same occupational safety and health standards to incarcerated workers that apply to regular employees. The bill also creates a grant program to help states establish and enforce these workplace protections.

Who It Affects

Incarcerated people who perform work in state or federal correctional facilities, including those in prison work programs, work release programs, and facility maintenance jobs. State and local governments that operate correctional facilities or contract with private companies to run them. The federal Bureau of Prisons. States and units of local government receiving federal grants for correctional facilities. The Secretary of Labor and the Attorney General.

Key Provisions

• States must include incarcerated workers in their occupational safety and health plans and submit annual reports to the Attorney General and Congress about workplace safety conditions and any potential violations (Sec. 2(b)). • The Bureau of Prisons must apply its occupational safety and health program to incarcerated workers the same way it applies to Bureau employees, and must submit annual reports about workplace safety, injuries, deaths, and potential violations (Sec. 2(c)). • States and local governments receiving federal grants must submit annual reports detailing workplace safety conditions, any injuries or deaths, and compliance with occupational safety and health standards at their correctional facilities (Sec. 3). • States can receive federal funding if they certify they have provided workplace safety and health protections for incarcerated workers that are as effective as state occupational safety and health programs (Sec. 3). • The Secretary of Labor will establish a grant program to help states amend their occupational safety and health laws to cover incarcerated workers and enforce those laws through inspections and penalties (Sec. 4).

What Changes

States and the federal government must now treat incarcerated workers as covered under occupational safety and health laws. They must monitor and report on workplace safety conditions for incarcerated workers. States can apply for federal grants to help them extend occupational safety protections to incarcerated workers. Federal funding becomes available for states to establish and implement these workplace safety protections.

Important Definitions

"Correctional facility" means a facility as defined in section 901(a) of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (Sec. 2(a)). "Incarcerated worker" means a person held in a state, local, or federal correctional facility (whether run by a public agency or private company under contract) who performs work offered or required by the facility, including work in prison work programs, work release programs, state prison industries, public works programs, restitution centers, facility operations and maintenance, and work for private entities (Sec. 2(b) and Sec. 2(c)).

Effective Date

Incarcerated workers must be covered under state occupational safety and health plans and federal Bureau of Prisons protections. States and the Bureau of Prisons must submit their first reports not later than two years after the date this bill becomes law, and every year after that (Sec. 2(b) and Sec. 2(c)).

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 518 To enhance coverage and oversight of occupational safety and health standards in correctional facilities, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES FEBRUARY 16, 2023 Mr. BOOKER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To enhance coverage and oversight of occupational safety and health standards in correctional facilities, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Correctional Facilities 4 Occupational Safety and Health Act of 2023’’. 5 SEC. 2. COVERAGE OF INCARCERATED WORKERS UNDER 6 THE OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH 7 ACT OF 1970. 8 (a) DEFINITION OF CORRECTIONAL FACILITY.—Sec- 9 tion 3 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:17 Mar 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S518.IS S518 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •S 518 IS (29 U.S.C. 652) is amended by adding at the end the fol- 1 lowing: 2 ‘‘(15) The term ‘correctional facility’ has the 3 meaning given the term in section 901(a) Omnibus 4 Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 5 U.S.C. 10251(a)).’’. 6 (b) STATE PLANS.—Section 18 of the Occupational 7 Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 667) is amend- 8 ed— 9 (1) in subsection (c)— 10 (A) in paragraph (6), by striking ‘‘political 11 subdivisions,’’ and inserting ‘‘political subdivi- 12 sions and to all incarcerated workers,’’; and 13 (B) in paragraph (7)— 14 (i) by striking ‘‘(7) requires’’ and in- 15 serting ‘‘(7)(A) requires’’; and 16 (ii) by adding at the end the fol- 17 lowing: 18 ‘‘(B) requires the State to ensure that any pub- 19 lic agency of the State (or of a political subdivision 20 of the State) operating a correctional facility or con- 21 tracting with a private entity to operate such a facil- 22 ity, shall, not later than 2 years after the date of en- 23 actment of the Correctional Facilities Occupational 24 Safety and Health Act of 2023, and every year 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:17 Mar 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S518.IS S518 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •S 518 IS thereafter, submit to the Attorney General and Con- 1 gress a report on— 2 ‘‘(i) the workplace safety and health condi- 3 tions at each such facility, and 4 ‘‘(ii) any potential noncompliance of each 5 such facility with the safety and health stand- 6 ards under the State plan, and’’; and 7 (2) by adding at the end the following: 8 ‘‘(i) DEFINITION OF INCARCERATED WORKER.—In 9 this section, the term ‘incarcerated worker’ means an indi- 10 vidual, incarcerated or detained in a correctional facility 11 operated by a public agency of a State or political subdivi- 12 sion of a State (or by a private entity through a contract 13 with a State or political subdivision of a State), who per- 14 forms work offered or required by or through the correc- 15 tional facility, including work associated with prison work 16 programs, work release programs, State prison industries, 17 public works programs, restitution centers, correctional fa- 18 cility operations and maintenance, and private entities.’’. 19 (c) FEDERAL PRISONS.—Section 19 of the Occupa- 20 tional Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 668) 21 is amended by adding at the end the following: 22 ‘‘(e) BUREAU OF PRISONS.— 23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the Bureau 24 of Prisons shall— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:17 Mar 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S518.IS S518 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •S 518 IS ‘‘(A) ensure that the occupational safety 1 and health program established and maintained 2 by the Director under subsection (a) shall apply 3 with respect to incarcerated workers in the 4 same manner as the program applies to employ- 5 ees of the Bureau of Prisons; and 6 ‘‘(B) agree to submit, not later than 2 7 years after the date of enactment of the Correc- 8 tional Facilities Occupational Safety and 9 Health Act of 2023, and every year thereafter, 10 to the Attorney General and Congress, a report 11 on— 12 ‘‘(i) the workplace safety and health 13 conditions at any correctional facility oper- 14 ated by the Bureau of Prisons or a private 15 entity contracting with Bureau of Prisons; 16 ‘‘(ii) any injury or death of any em- 17 ployee or incarcerated worker while per- 18 forming labor with respect to such facility; 19 and 20 ‘‘(iii) any potential noncompliance of 21 any such facility of such occupational safe- 22 ty and health program. 23 ‘‘(2) DEFINITION OF INCARCERATED WORK- 24 ER.—In this section, the term ‘incarcerated worker’ 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:17 Mar 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S518.IS S518 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •S 518 IS means an individual, incarcerated or detained in a 1 correctional facility operated by the Bureau of Pris- 2 ons (or by a private entity through a contract with 3 the Bureau of Prisons), who performs work offered 4 or required by or through the correctional facility, 5 including work associated with prison work pro- 6 grams, work release programs, the UNICOR pro- 7 gram, public works programs, restitution centers, 8 correctional facility operations and maintenance, and 9 private entities.’’. 10 SEC. 3. INCENTIVES FOR STATES TO ENACT PROTECTIONS 11 FOR INCARCERATED WORKERS. 12 Title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 13 Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10101 et seq.) is amend- 14 ed— 15 (1) in section 501 (34 U.S.C. 10152), by add- 16 ing at the end the following: 17 ‘‘(i) ANNUAL REPORT ON WORKPLACE SAFETY AND 18 HEALTH CONDITIONS.—Not later than 2 years after the 19 date of enactment of the Correctional Facilities Occupa- 20 tional Safety and Health Act of 2023 and annually there- 21 after, any State or unit of local government that receives 22 a grant under this section and operates a correctional fa- 23 cility or contracts with a private entity to operate a correc- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:17 Mar 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S518.IS S518 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •S 518 IS tional facility shall submit to the Attorney General and 1 Congress a report on— 2 ‘‘(1) the workplace safety and health conditions 3 at each such correctional facility; 4 ‘‘(2) any injury or death of any employee or in- 5 carcerated worker while performing work with re- 6 spect to any such correctional facility; and 7 ‘‘(3) any potential noncompliance of any such 8 correctional facility with the occupational safety and 9 health standards that apply to the correctional facil- 10 ity.’’; 11 (2) in section 502 (34 U.S.C. 10153)— 12 (A) by striking ‘‘(A) In general’’ and in- 13 serting ‘‘(a) In general’’; and 14 (B) in subsection (a), by adding at the end 15 the following: 16 ‘‘(7) A certification, to be verified by the Attor- 17 ney General, in consultation with the Assistant Sec- 18 retary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health, 19 that— 20 ‘‘(A) the State or unit of local govern- 21 ment— 22 ‘‘(i) has provided workplace safety 23 and health protections for incarcerated 24 workers in correctional facilities, either by 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:17 Mar 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S518.IS S518 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7 •S 518 IS legislative or executive action, that are at 1 least as effective in providing safe and 2 healthful employment and places of em- 3 ployment for incarcerated workers as the 4 comprehensive occupational safety and 5 health programs established by States 6 under section 18 of the Occupational Safe- 7 ty and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 8 667); or 9 ‘‘(ii) not later than the last day of the 10 fiscal year following the fiscal year to 11 which the application relates, will have pro- 12 vided the protections described in clause 13 (i), with the limitation that a certification 14 under this clause may only be submitted 15 one time; and 16 ‘‘(B) an appropriate State or local agency 17 monitors and enforces or will monitor or en- 18 force, as applicable, the safety and health pro- 19 tections described in subparagraph (A)(i).’’; 20 (3) in section 506 (34 U.S.C. 10157), by add- 21 ing at the end the following: 22 ‘‘(c) Of the total amount made available to carry out 23 this subpart for a fiscal year, the Attorney General, in con- 24 sultation with the Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occu- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:17 Mar 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S518.IS S518 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 8 •S 518 IS pational Safety and Health, shall reserve not less than 1 $20,000,000 for use by States and units of local govern- 2 ment to establish and implement workplace safety and 3 health protections for incarcerated workers in correctional 4 facilities.’’; and 5 (4) in section 901(a) (34 U.S.C. 10251(a))— 6 (A) in paragraph (27), by striking ‘‘and’’ 7 at the end; 8 (B) in paragraph (28), by striking the pe- 9 riod at the end and adding ‘‘; and’’; and 10 (C) by inserting after paragraph (28) the 11 following: 12 ‘‘(29) the term ‘incarcerated worker’ means an 13 individual, incarcerated or detained in a correctional 14 facility operated by a State or a political subdivision 15 of a State (or by a private entity through a contract 16 with a State or political subdivision of a State), who 17 performs work offered or required by or through the 18 correctional facility, including work associated with 19 prison work programs, work release programs, State 20 prison industries, public works programs, restitution 21 centers, correctional facility operations and mainte- 22 nance, and private entities.’’. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:17 Mar 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S518.IS S518 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 9 •S 518 IS SEC. 4. GRANTS TO ASSIST STATES IN COVERING INCAR- 1 CERATED WORKERS. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Labor shall es- 3 tablish a grant program to award a grant to each State 4 that submits an application satisfying the requirements 5 under subsection (b) to assist the State in amending the 6 occupational safety and health laws of the State to cover 7 incarcerated workers and to enforce those laws as appro- 8 priate through inspections, investigations, citations, pen- 9 alties, and other enforcement mechanisms. 10 (b) APPLICATIONS.—A State seeking a grant under 11 this section shall submit an application to the Secretary 12 at such time, in such manner, and containing such infor- 13 mation as the Secretary may reasonably require. 14 (c) DEFINITION OF INCARCERATED WORKER.—In 15 this section, the term ‘‘incarcerated worker’’ has the 16 meaning given such term in section 18(i) of the Occupa- 17 tional Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 667(i)). 18 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 19 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 20 $20,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2024 through 2029, 21 to remain available until expended. 22 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:17 Mar 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S518.IS S518 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB

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